


Of cats, friends, and cat-like friends

by Melie



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Friendship, Gen, Long-Distance Friendship, Phone Calls & Telephones, contains a List, early KurooTsukki mentioned because I'm Predictable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-12-13 07:17:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11754804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melie/pseuds/Melie
Summary: Set some time after the first Karasuno vs. Nekoma practice match.Kenma's new friend (he still needs to get used to that) has somehow convinced him to do a video chat. The joys of long-distance friendship.





	Of cats, friends, and cat-like friends

**Author's Note:**

> It's International Cat's Day apparently, so I (logically) had to write about Kenma. Whom I love dearly.

As Kenma checked the time and turned on his laptop, he reflected once more on the strange thing that had happened in the last few days.

He'd made a friend.

Not just an acquaintance but an actual friend. One who'd even managed to convince him to do a video chat. Kenma hated video chats, especially when the written words could convey thoughts much more efficiently.

Kuro had laughed when he'd told him, but Kenma could tell he was actually kind of baffled. And not the only one.

But Shouyou Hinata was simply a difficult person to argue with, much less refuse. Not because he was right, but because of his cheerfulness and dumb persistence.

That, and Kenma was a bit curious about him. Also, Kuro had ended up encouraging him – although it could be argued that he had his own reasons for wanting the friendship to blossom, which didn't mean he was cold or selfish, just a little bit obsessed, like Kenma could get over some video games.

Thus, Kenma was currently about to start the dreaded video call. However, he never did get to press the button, as “Shouyou Hinata wants to start a video chat with you” suddenly appeared on his screen.

“Heeeey!!!!”

Shouyou was beaming. There was simply no other word for it.

“Hey,” Kenma answered, trying not to look at the small square that presented him with his own face (in case he forgot what he looked like?) and concentrating on Hinata instead. Eye contact was hard, though, even with chipper friends.

Shouyou's bedroom appeared to be filled with volleyball memorabilia, which was to be expected. Someone had also had the terrible idea of giving him a revolving chair, which meant that he wouldn't sit still for even a second.

“How was your day?!”

It also seemed that most of Shouyou's sentences ended in exclamation marks.

“Good. Usual.”

“Cool! Practice?”

“Same. We're still trying to train some new guy. He's weird . And annoying.”

“Oooh! How's Inuoka?”

“Fine. He says hi. Kuroo too.”

Kenma glanced at the small piece of paper on his desk. It would have to wait until later.

“School was booooooring! But practice was nice! Although Bakageyama was mean again.”

Conversations with Shouyou tended to steer towards two main topics: volleyball and Kageyama, most often through a combination of both.

“And then he called me Dumbass again and... ooooooh you have a cat?!!”

“Yes.”

The feline in question had just jumped in front of the screen. Kenma absent-mindedly scratched her ears, prompting her to sit.

“What's her name?”

“Shiro.”

“Nice!! You didn't tell me you had a cat!!”

In some ways, he nearly had two, given how Kuro could act at times.

“Sorry.”

“What are you saying that for? It's my fault, I didn't ask! Do you have any other pets?”

“No. You?”

“No. But I do have a sister!”

Only Shouyou could say that without making it sound insulting.

“Her name's Natsu! She's really cute, but she's too small to play volleyball yet.”

“I see.”

“What are your posters of?”

So Kenma talked him through them, which turned out to be quite enjoyable. Not only was Shouyou listening intently, even though none of the posters were related to his favourite sport, he also made sure to ask follow-up questions. Up to now, Kuro had been the only one who knew how to do that right with him.

As he sat back to his desk, Kenma glanced at the paper again.

“How's the rest of the team?” he asked.

“Well, Kageyama's being an idiot as usual, but I already said that. Suga tried to give me some tosses today, it was nice! And Nishinoya is awesome. He's going to teach me how to do Rolling Thunder! I think Tanaka's jealous. Oh, and Daichi and Asahi are working really hard too. The only one who isn't is Tsukishima.”

There it was, his opportunity.

The paper sitting on Kenma's desk was a list, given to him by Kuro at the end of practice and entitled “ _Things to find out about Kei Tsukishima (even just one of those would be great, I'll be in your debt forever, seriously)_ ”. It went as follows:

  * _favourite desert_

  * _birthday_

  * _marital status_

  * _favourite colour_

  * _clothes size_

  * _favourite joke_

  * _what music does he like_

  * _what is he obsessed about_

  * _what was his first impression of me_




After careful reflection, Kenma decided to try the first item.

“What's his favourite desert?” he asked, perhaps a bit too abruptly. That didn't seem to faze Shouyou, though it was entirely possible that nothing could actually faze him outside of stuff that happened on a volleyball court.

“I don't know. He doesn't eat much, so I can't tell you thing about desert... sorry, I really don't know.”

Kenma put an X in front of that line and decided to adopt a different strategy.

He may not have had many friends, but no one could say that he wasn't good to them.

“What did he say after our matches?”

Once again, the swift change of subject did not appear to bother Shouyou.

“He hasn't mentioned them, really. He just shows up to practice, and sneers. A lot. Though, actually, I think he was pissed off about your friend or something. He compared Bakageyama to him, which isn't nice or fair at all.”

Kenma sent a quick text (“He mentioned you”) followed by another (“He hates you”) and proceeded to ignore the subsequent buzzing of his phone, considering the matter closed.

“Do you think Karasuno will be ready for the Interhigh?”

“Of course!! We're gonna win this!! You?”

“Same.”

“I can't wait to fight you again in nationals!”

“The Battle of the Garbage Dump,” Kenma agreed, parroting Kuro's phrase.

“It'll be epic!”

Probably anything volleyball-related that Shouyou was involved in turned out to be epic, Kenma mused. Although he had to admit that he did like the eagerness in his friend's tone.

“What are you doing next weekend?”

“Practice. And there's a new game coming out that I have to get.”

“Niiice!! It's going to be the same for me, minus the game. Also I'm racing Kageyama again.”

There was a knock at Shouyou's door, and a small voice announced that dinner was ready.

“I'm sorry, I have to go!”

“It's fine.”

“We have to do this again!”

Kenma thought it over carefully before answering.

“Okay.”

“Maybe next Sunday?”

“I'll be playing my game.”

“Monday then?”

“It might be safer to leave it until Wednesday.”

“Wednesday it is then! See ya!”

The call ended. Kenma allowed himself to relax, just as Shiro settled on his lap, and reached out for his console.

That had gone well, he thought as he turned it on.

That had gone really well indeed.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Somewhere in Tokyo, Kuroo is Losing his Shit.


End file.
